Yes, My Office is Empty
The number one comment I get when people come into my office is “Wow this is place is empty.”. Some people appreciate the minimalistic aesthetic, others see at as a cold place that is not very inviting.
It’s not that I don’t like want clutter or think of less of people with clutter. In fact, I think the complete opposite. Often a place that looks decluttered does not mean the individual who owns the office has decluttered mind. For me, it’s all about minimalism.
Minimalism to me is all about getting rid of the unuseful, that unnecessary, that which does not serve the ultimate goal. It’s why I don’t have a stapler, a tissue box, diplomas on the wall or a bookcase full of books that I have read (or pretend to have read).
I see offices that are filled with things and I start to wonder if people are not building tombs to enshrine themselves in. It seems to me, the more stuff you have in your office the less likely you are to leave that place. You have invested too much into it. It has become your second home. You will spend more waking hours there then you will any other place.
I don’t think it has to be this way. Your office can be anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in a building provided by your company with a window or cubicle. Pick up your stuff and go outside. Surprisingly, there is big world out there and you can have your office anywhere you like. You can work from a museum, a starbucks or the middle of a park. Try it. You will find that whatever you thought needed in your office, you really didn’t need.
It’s time we recognize minimalism as more than just a empty space and really a way of thinking. We need to see that this attempt to make our offices look like the inside of a Chili’s resturaunt is actually quite disturbing. That the same place that you fill out your monthly expense report is probably not the best place to dream your next big idea.
Think big, dream big. You can’t do that in a corporate tomb. Go outside, the world is waiting.
